A Binding Secret
by KneazleXXX
Summary: What happens when after you find your soulmate you find another? Only this time it's way stronger than before. What can you do except keep it a secret from your first soulmate? A story about the daybreakers as they prepare for a possible war.
1. A New Acquaintance

**L. J. Smith owns the characters, of course. Please review after you read.**

Chapter One ~ A New Acquaintance

It was raining outside when two figures wearing black approached the Circle Daybreak safe house on a normal afternoon. Nobody seemed alarmed as the stealthily walked up to the door. One of the figures knocked three times, a special code used by the Daybreakers. The door was opened and the two figures stepped in and put down their hoods.

"Wow it's raining hard," Rashel remarked as she accepted a warm towel from Thea. "Thanks."

"Oh anytime," Thea replied with a smile. She was always offering something to somebody.

"Find out anything new?" Quinn asked when he stepped in the room, clearly hearing the voice of his soulmate.

"Nope," Rashel replied. She walked over to where Quinn was standing and gave him a quick kiss. "No signs of another wild power yet."

The second figure in black slowly drew back her hood. She was a nice looking girl, about 17. She was thin and fairly tall. Her long strawberry blond hair was drawn up in a pony tail and her bright blue eyes looked over the room.

"Who's your friend Rashel?" Thea asked.

"Oh sorry! This is Raven. She was a vampire hunter with me a few years back." The two girls exchanged a knowing look. "She was very good too. I tracked her down a couple weeks ago and found out she had given up hunter after she hurt her knee. I talked to her and convinced her to come back here and join Circle Daybreak."

Raven smiled at her friend. "You make me sound like the good guy," she laughed. "It took her a lot of convincing to get me back here. Old habits die hard I guess."

"You'll get used to it," Rashel laughed. She looked up at Quinn. "It's not that bad."

Everyone in the room chuckled. They had all heard Quinn and Rashel's story. Rashel, the cat, a well-known vampire hunter and Quinn a dangerous human killer. But they made a perfect match.

"Well, we're glad to have you," Thea said with a smile. "Especially a good fighter."

"Thanks," Raven replied.

xXx

The news of Rashel's return and Raven's arrival spread quickly through the house. By dinner time, Raven had met everyone except Delos and Maggie since they were out practicing with Delos's powers. Everyone was sitting around the table, with the exception of Ash and Quinn who had guard duty, and Maggie and Delos who hadn't yet returned. Aradia, the maiden of all the witches was their guest tonight.

"So what have you guys learnt?" Aradia asked.

"Well nothing new really," Rashel answered. "The fourth Wild Power is no where's that we can find."

"I was expecting as much, but you'll find it," Aradia said confidently.

"Do you have any news Aradia?" Thea asked.

"Well the lamia still isn't happy, of course. They're still threatening a war but they haven't acted on anything yet."

"Good," Galen said. "One less war, the better."

Keller rolled her eyes. "As long as I can fight, I'm good. But a war right now wouldn't be helpful."

At this remark Galen gave Keller a dirty look.

"As long as you can fight?" he asked.

"Well I'm not just going to sit here am I?"

"That's exactly what you're going to do."

Aradia chuckled and made her way to the sitting room. The rest followed, except Galen and Keller, who continued to argue. Everyone knew it wouldn't last long though. After watching the news, couples began to drift away doing their own things. Maggie and Delos returned but went straight to bed. Aradia, Thea and Jez all went upstairs first. Followed shortly by Eric, Galen, Keller, James and Poppy. Morgead and Rashel took guard duty once Ash and Quinn came in. Quinn and Ash stayed up talking for a bit, but finally Quinn went to bed. The only two left in the sitting room was Ash and Raven.

"Hi, I'm Ash," he said as he slid into the seat next to Raven.

"Raven," she replied.

"You're human," Ash stated simply.

"I'm an old friend of Rashel's."

Ash sat for a moment and deliberated. "You don't have to lie to me you know. I won't give away your secret."

Raven was shocked. Rashel said nobody knew…

"What are you talking about," she stammered.

"Oh come on. You can't expect us not to notice."

"Notice what? We're old friends. That's it. End of story."

"Ok, first of all, you barely talk. She didn't even sit next to you all night. Secondly, Rashel wouldn't have gone on duty, she would have stayed here to talk. Thirdly, the others might not have noticed, but even though you don't look alike, you both act the same."

Raven couldn't believe it. How had their plan failed so quickly?

"So you're cousins right?" he prompted.

"Sisters."

"Sisters?" For a minute Ash looked shocked. "So how did that work out? I thought Rashel had no family?"

Raven took a deep breath and began. "We're half sisters actually. Rashel never knew what happened to her father. He left her mother just before she was born. Then he met my mother and they had me. Satisfied?"

Raven's face was cold. She didn't like this topic. Her dad was a jerk. Once her mom was pregnant he left her to fend for herself.

"So then what happened? How come you only met now?"

Raven sighed. "We met a couple months ago. She tracked me down after she ran into her father. He accidentally let it slip that he had another daughter. She managed to find my gang of vampire hunters and we talked. She tried to convince me to go with her and join Circle Daybreak, but all I wanted was to kill more vampires. They killed my mother just like they killed Rashel's. We kept meeting secretly and she finally convinced me to come with her. So here I am."

She got up and walked across the room. The window was open and it was still raining so she shut it. Something moved in the corner of her eye. Standing under s tree was Rashel, her sister. It was hard to believe she had a sister after growing up all alone. Rashel's head turned slightly. She saw Raven standing in the window and smiled shyly. It was obvious she was thinking the same thing. Raven turned away to look at Ash. His look was thoughtful and not at all proud like it was when he first sat down.

He looked up at her. "Why keep it a secret? Why didn't you just tell the truth?"

"Because Rashel and I weren't ready to tell anyone just yet. It's still settling in."

Ash got up off the couch and stood in front of Raven. He took her hands in his. "It doesn't matter to me, but your secret is safe. I won't tell." With that he turned around and began to walk away. At the last minute her turned around and said, "I'm happy for you both." He gave a quick smile and continued up the stairs.

xXx

Please, please, please review! I don't care if you hate it, just do it! :D Though positve feedback is welcomed too. Let me know what you guys think. I know I should finish my other stories, but I have to be in the right mood. And I just happened to be in the mood for a new story. :)


	2. What To Do

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to L.J. Smith**

Chapter Two - What to do?

Raven was woken up the next morning by a loud thud.

"Ouch!"

She opened her eyes and looked around. Keller and Rashel were looking at Thea annoyed who was standing near the door.

"Sorry!" she whispered. "I tripped over someone's shoe." She shot a nasty look at Keller.

"It's not my fault!" Keller shot back. "You need to learn to watch where you're going!"

Thea rolled her eyes and left the room.

"Everyone else is already up!" she announced from the hall.

"Uhh…" Keller groaned as she rolled out of bed. She grabbed her toothbrush and walked out of the room. It was just Raven and Rashel left now. Ash walked in with two pieces of toast.

"Hey!" Rashel said. "You're not allowed in here."

"Well I figured you were hungry." He gave one piece of toast to Rashel and the other to Raven.

"Thanks," Raven mumbled.

Ash began to walk towards the door.

"Don't forget to tell her I know," he called over his shoulder.

"What is he talking about now?" Rashel asked, clearly still annoyed.

"Oh, well…Ash kind of found out about you and me," Raven mumbled.

Rashel sighed. "Of course he did." She hesitated a moment. "Well now that he knows it doesn't matter who else does."

"I'm sorry." It was all Raven could think of to say.

"It's fine. Ash can be…perceptive sometimes. Just never when anyone else needs him to be." She gave Raven a small smile. "Come on. Get dressed and let's go downstairs. Thierry is supposed to come today so we can move the Wild Powers to his house."

"Who's Thierry?" she asked.

While they got dressed Rashel explained everything to Raven. When they got downstairs Thierry was already there. He was sitting with his arm around a pretty young girl.

"Thierry, Hannah, this is Raven," said Thea.

Raven gave them a small smile.

"Raven. What a pretty name," Hannah said with a smile. "It suits you well I think."

"Thank you."

"So Raven, how did you find Circle Daybreak?" Thierry asked. "Since you used to be a vampire hunter."

Every set of eyes turned towards Thierry. He sat patiently waiting for an answer.

"I…I…"

"Thierry? How did you know that?" Hannah asked, with a little bit of concern in her voice.

"Oh sorry. I didn't mean that she hunted any of my people. I could just tell by the way walks and stands. She walks like Rashel."

Raven and Rashel exchanged a quick look. It didn't occur to anyone why else they walked the same.

"Rashel convinced me to join," Raven said quietly.

"I bet it took a lot of convincing," Thierry laughed.

"Oh it did," Rashel confirmed.

"How do you two know each other?" Hannah questioned.

"Umm, well…" Rave started.

"Raven's my sister." Rashel stated simply.

The room went quiet.

"Your sister?" Thea asked.

"Yeah," Rashel answered.

"But I thought both your parents died," Quinn said quietly from behind them.

Raven turned. She didn't even hear him come in. Some vampire hunter she was. His dark hair was slightly hanging down in his eyes. His black eyes looked confused and his gaze was on Rashel.

"I thought so too," she responded. Her voice was quiet but it carried through the room easily. "My dad was a marine. One day when I was not even a year old, he left home and never came back. A few of his friends came to the house and told us that he was in an accident and that they never found his body. My mother cried for months but now I know it was all for nothing. My mom told me the story when I was four. I never forgot it. I've never understood what it was like to have a father and for a long time now, a family."

She looked around at all the faces of her newest family. Raven took Rashel's hand and squeezed it gently. If anyone knew what she was feeling, it was Raven. Rashel smiled wearily and looked up at Raven. She nodded her head once to signal Raven to pick up where she left off.

Raven took a deep breath and continued. "After faking his death he moved to Canada, where he met my mother. They never married but my mom adored him. But when my mother got pregnant with me, he left her. She always said that it was because he couldn't handle me, but I always wondered if it was something else."

Raven picked up the story from here. "I saw him about a month ago while I was in town. I could only recognize him from the pictures my mom kept. He knew who I was right away too when I went up to confront him. He told me everything, except why he left Raven's mom. But I knew the reason even if he didn't want to say it. So I began to search for Raven. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I just got lucky I guess. I met with her a few times and finally convinced her to join Circle Daybreak."

Rashel and Raven were standing in the middle of the room. All eyes were on them, except Thierry's. He was looking at the floor in deep concentration. Finally he looked up and addressed the two girls.

"That was a nice story, thought I'm sorry about the pain it caused both of you. I admire both of you for your courage. It's hard to trust someone you've just met, but you girls have learnt quickly."

Rashel smiled and put her arm around Raven. Raven did the same and squeezed Rashel closer. One by one everyone else unfroze. Quinn walked up to Rashel and took her in his arms. Raven felt a hand around her waist and turned to see Thea. She smiled and gave her new friend a hug. Looking around at all the faces, she decided she was going to like it here.

Thierry got up off the couch and cleared his throat quietly.

"I'm glad you joined us," he said to Raven, while taking her hand. "If you're anything like Rashel then we need you greatly."

Hannah stood up as well and took Raven's hand too.

"You're going to love it here," she said with a smile.

Then both Thierry and Hannah went across the room to talk to Morgead, Ash and Galen. Raven could hear them talking about the moving arrangements. The atmosphere in the room changed almost immediately. Everyone talked in a business-like manner. Slowly people began to head upstairs to gather their things together.

"Come on," Thea whispered in her ear.

Raven followed her into their room. They were joined shortly by Keller and Rashel. Quickly they packed up their few belongings and headed back downstairs.

After their bags were loaded into one of the many vehicles they were taking, they all dived into groups of four to be placed in their car for the trip. The members of the vehicles were carefully chosen since there had to be at least two good fighters in each car. Raven ended up in a comfortable blue car with Thea, Keller, Galen and a driver who was clearly a vampire.

"This is Nissa," Keller said. "She's one of my partners."

Nissa gave her a quick smile. She was all business for the moment.

"My other partner is Winnie. She's the witch with the strawberry colour hair in the car behind us. You'll meet her later."

Raven nodded. There were more members in the Circle than she realized.

They drove all throughout the night and part of the day until they reached Las Vegas. Eventually the car pulled into a long driveway. Raven could see black roses everywhere. Then she remembered what Rashel had told her. Thierry was a lord of the night world, and the night world's symbol was black flowers. Of course Thierry would have his whole lawn covered with them.

Nissa talked to a young man out front before driving up the rest of the way. They drove quietly and parked at the big front doors. Keller got out first, followed by Galen, Thea and the Raven. A dozen young men came out of the house to gather their luggage and bring it inside. Raven followed Thea up the front stairs and into the house. Thierry walked in last.

Raven looked around at all the members. She knew this wasn't everyone in the Circle. Rashel had explained to her that these were mostly people that needed to be protected from the Council. Apparently none of the Council even suspected Thierry to be involved with Circle Daybreak. He played his part well.

"Welcome my friends," Thierry announced. "You will all be taken up to your rooms so you can freshen up and take a look around. I hope you will all join me at dinner time so we can have a regular meeting." He smiled warmly at his guests then took Hannah's hand and headed into another room.

Raven was told she would be sharing a room with Iliana which was fine with her. She like Iliana, she was nice. Their room would be in between Rashel and Quinn's room and Keller and Galen's room. Since Thierry had a huge house, whoever wanted to could share a room with their soulmate. Raven was asked if she wanted a room to herself, but she preferred the company of another.

Everyone went up to their rooms. It was a long ride and everyone was tired. Plus, most of the couples had been separated for the ride and they were anxious to be alone. This is why Raven was left alone to unpack her few belongings, as Iliana went to take a long bath.

After spending only ten minutes unpacking, Raven decided to go look around the house. All the rooms were extremely well-decorated and expensive looking. The one thing they all had in common was that the furniture looked century's old, and no doubt, it probably was. In the last room she looked in, she found Delos sitting in a comfy looking chair, reading a book.

"Oops, I didn't mean to interrupt," Raven apologized.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Please stay."

Delos gestured to the chair next to him. Raven sat down shyly. She wasn't good at meeting new people. Delos was the only one that she met, that she hadn't really seen much of. Delos went back to reading his book while Raven looked around the room. It was after a few minutes that she noticed Maggie wasn't there. She knew that soulmates hated to be apart.

Where's Maggie?" she asked.

Delos looked up from his book. "She and Hannah are good friends. Hannah wanted some company while Thierry went out on business."

"And you don't mind being alone?"

"No, I was alone a lot before meeting Maggie. I guess I'm used to it."

They were silent for a moment then Raven asked, "What was your home like before coming here?"

"I was a prince in an old forgotten kingdom, ruled by the Night World. At the time I didn't mind it there, but looking back it was a terrible place. We had human slaves brought in all the time, along with exotic animals. It was enough to live, but I was always waiting for something more."

"Like Maggie?"

"Exactly. Actually it was Maggie that found me."

He then proceeded to tell her the story of how they met and how Maggie freed all the slaves. Raven sat quietly and listened to the whole story without saying a word. Delos was very impressed. She didn't interrupt him at all and she didn't even flinch when he told her how he killed his great-grandfather.

'She was a vampire hunter,' he thought. 'She's probably seen way worse.'

"Wow," Raven said as Delos finished his story.

"I know," he agreed.

They sat quietly, once again. Even the sounds of breathing could barely be heard. Raven looked over at Delos.

'He really is quite good-looking,' she determined.

Suddenly the door opened and Iliana peeked her head inside. She gave tehm a warm smile and said, "Thierry wants to see us all in the dinning room. He said it's extremely important."

"Ok," Delos said as he closed his book. "We'll be right there."

Iliana left Delos and Raven alone while she went to round up the others. Raven stood up and Delos followed.

"Raven?"

Raven turned to face Delos. He was standing far closer than she thought.

"Yea?"

"I'm glad you joined us. We needed someone like you."

It wasn't exactly what Raven was expecting, and she didn't quite understand what he meant but she thanked him anyways. Delos smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand, but he never made it. As soon as their skin made contact, something happened. Raven's hand was tingly where their skin had touched and the feeling traveled all the way up her arm. But that wasn't the real shock. Her mind had exploded. All of a sudden she couldn't hold her own weight. She sank to the floor but she felt a pair of strong arms catch her. Their minds were connected. She could feel Delos' confusion as to what was happening, but she could tell he understood it more than her.

'_I don't like this_,' she thought.

'_That makes two of us_,' Delos' voice said in her mind.

'_You can hear me?'_

'_Yes.'_

'_What is happening?'_

'_I don't know,'_ Delos responded. She could tell he wasn't telling the truth though.

'_Don't lie to me please.'_

She felt Delos hesitate, then she gasped as she caught a fragment of what Delos was thinking.

Soulmates.

"That can't be possible!" Raven said out loud. "What about Maggie?"

"I don't know." The words were cold and angry. "I don't understand this."

She felt his mind pull away and when they were no longer connected she could still feel parts of his mind.

Raven looked at Delos. He was on the floor with his arms around her. He looked confused, and a little scared. Raven pushed him away and got up. Delos swiftly followed.

"What is going on?" she screamed. "How is this even possible?"

"I don't know and I don't care!" he yelled.

"Well then the question is, what are we going to do?"

So if you read this please leave a review! I really need to now you're ideas so I can make it better! Thanks to those whoe reviewed already. :)


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